Fray Luis de León | Page 7

of five persons was appointed to examine into the orthodoxy
of the views alleged to be held by these three. As Leon de Castro was a
member of this committee, and as none of the other four members was
in sympathy with Luis de Leon, the general tenor of the committee's
findings might readily be predicted. These findings were somewhat
hastily adopted by the local Inquisition at Valladolid on January 26,
1572, when the arrest of Grajal and Martinez de Cantalapiedra was
recommended.[48] Up to this point Luis de Leon would seem not to
have been officially implicated by name, though he was clearly aimed
at, especially by Castro who appeared before the Inquisitionary
Commissary at Salamanca, and reiterated Medina's charges with some
wealth of rancorous detail.[49]
With significant promptitude effect was given to the recommendation
of the local Inquisition: Grajal was apprehended on March 1; shortly
afterwards Martinez de Cantalapiedra was likewise apprehended; and,
as these measures seemed to arouse no feeling more dangerous than
surprise in Salamanca, it was conceivably thought safe to fly at higher
game. Manifestly, Luis de Leon must have known that something
perilous was afoot when he handed in a most respectfully-worded
written statement on March 6, 1572.[50] By about this time there had

arrived in Salamanca Diego Gonzalez--an experienced official, whose
conduct of the Inquisitionary case against Bartolomé de Carranza, the
Archbishop of Toledo, has earned him an unenviable repute.[51] Under
the presidency of Gonzalez, who might be trusted to keep the weaker
brethren, if there were any, up to the mark, the local Inquisition on
March 15 resolved to recommend the arrest of Luis de Leon.
Apparently the gravity of this step was recognized. Another sitting was
held on March 19, and a vote was taken with the result that the
previous decision was confirmed by four votes to two. It should not,
however, be assumed that the vote of the two implied any marked
personal sympathy with Luis de Leon. On the contrary: the difference
between the majority and the minority was concerned solely with a
question of procedure. The minority suggested that it would cause less
fuss and less scandal to seize Luis de Leon, Grajal, and Martinez de
Cantalapiedra, to place each of them in solitary confinement for a short
while in a Valladolid monastery, and thence to remove them, without
trial, to the secret prison of the Inquisition.[52] It is difficult to detect
the humanitarian motive of this alternative proposal.

II
[Footnote 1: Revista Agustiniana (Madrid, 1882), vol. III, p. 127. 'Lope
Alvarez Ponce de Leon, Regidor de Segovia... casó dos veces: la
primera con Doña Leonor Sánchez de Olivares, hija de Díez Sánchez
de Olivares y hermana de aquel valiente caballero Don Pedro de
Olivares, comendador del Olmo, del orden de Calatrava en tiempo del
Maestro D. Rodrigo Téllez Girón. De este matrimonio tuvieron tres
hijos. En segundas nupcias casó con Doña Leonor de Villanueva, y
tuvieron dos hijos; pero no declaran quienes fueron del primer
matrimonio, y quienes del segundo. Solo de D. Gómez consta que es
del primer matrimonio.']
[Footnote 2: _Proceso original que la Inquisicion de Valladolid hizo al
maestro Fr. Luis de Leon, religioso del orden de S. Agustin._ This
proceso, edited by D. Miguel Salvá and D. Pedro Sainz de Baranda,
occupies the tenth volume and pp. 5-358 of the eleventh volume of the
_Coleccion de Documentos inéditos para la historia de España_
(Madrid, 1847).]
[Footnote 3: Ex. gr. _Documentos inéditos_, vol. X, pp. 96-97, 184-185,

255-256; vol. XI, pp. 38, 131, 350.]
[Footnote 4: It is established beyond doubt, however, that some
members of the family used the name Ponce. The works of Luis de
Leon's eminent nephew, Basilio, an Augustinian like himself, bear on
their title-pages the words 'Basilius Pontius Legionensis'.]
[Footnote 5: This assertion is made emphatically by Diego de Haedo,
the prosecuting counsel on behalf of the Inquisition; he calls Luis de
Leon a 'descendiente de generacion de judíos' (_Documentos inéditos_,
vol. X, p. 206). An echo of the charge is faintly audible in Luis de
Leon's own testimony. It is repeated with violence by Leon de Castro:
'...enojado de la porfía el dicho fray Luis, despues le dijo á este
declarante que le habia de hacer quemar un libro que imprimia sobre
Exsahías, y este declarante le respondió que con la gracia de Dios que
ni él, ni su libro no prenderia fuego, ni podia; que primero prenderia en
sus orejas y linaje; y queste declarante no queria ir mas á las juntas'
(_Documentos inéditos_, vol. X, p. 12).]
[Footnote 6: _Documentos inéditos_, vol. X, p. 157.]
[Footnote 7: See note 1.]
[Footnote 8: Luis de Leon apparently took no special interest in his
family history. Before the Inquisitionary Tribunal at Valladolid on
April 15, 1572, he traced